Page 20 of Face Her Fear

Meg Cleary wasn’t just frozen from having lain out in the snow for several hours. Her body was in full rigor mortis. Now that she was closer, Josie could see a small cut on Meg’s right cheek. Dried blood smudged beneath it. It was thin, only half an inch long, with a slight curve at the end. Had it come from a fingernail? Josie couldn’t tell. Moving on, she used a gloved finger to lift each of Meg’s eyelids. The whites of her eyes were dotted with petechiae, pinpricks of pink where blood vessels had burst from lack of oxygen.

Josie’s heart sank.

It might not mean anything. She heard Mettner’s voice in her head as if he were right there with her.

Her eyes were drawn to the scarf around Meg’s neck.True, she told him silently. Petechiae could be caused by something as simple as coughing or vomiting rather than strangulation. But to Josie’s knowledge, Meg hadn’t been doing either of those things this week.

You need to see what’s under her scarf, Mettner’s voice advised.

But she couldn’t just look. If she was right about what had happened to Meg then she needed to treat this as a crime scene. Even though she wasn’t in her own jurisdiction, her oath as a sworn officer of the law would not allow her to contaminate the scene. If someone had killed Meg, they might have left trace evidence behind—fibers or DNA. Josie had to make an attempt to preserve anything that might be there. That meant she couldn’t allow anyone to touch the body any more than the minimal amount required to move it. She couldn’t even brush or blow the snow away. The best option would be to get her onto a clean sheet exactly as she was and then take her back to one of the unoccupied buildings. Once her body was transferred to an environment above freezing, the snow would melt and leave any trace evidence in place.

Josie took out her walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button. It took effort not to speak into it as if she were communicating with her own team. “This is Josie,” she said. “Sandrine and I found Meg along the path. I need help down here right away to move her.”

Brian’s voice came back. “Roger that. On our way to you now.”

“Stop in the main house and see if you can find a clean sheet.”

There were a few beats of silence and then Taryn responded, “Roger.”

Josie took a deep breath. “Alice? You copy?”

There was a burst of static and then Alice’s voice. “I’m here.”

“I need you, too. Can you stop at my cabin and bring my journal and a pen? Bring my phone as well.”

“Sure. See you soon.”

Sandrine stood on shaky legs. Her yoga pants were soaked through. Her entire body shivered from cold and shock and grief. “What are you doing, Josie?”

Josie debated whether or not to tell Sandrine her suspicions and decided it was best not to say anything until she had a clearer picture of what had caused Meg’s death. Instead, she said, “I need you to stand over there, closer to the path, and make sure the others see us when they get down here.”

Sandrine covered her mouth before another sob escaped. She looked down at Meg again, the sadness in her face piercing Josie’s heart. “Poor Meg.”

“Please, Sandrine. I know this is hard, but I need you to stand over there so that the others find us. Then we need to get you back to the main house as soon as possible. Try not to touch anything.”

Sandrine walked past the trail of Meg’s discarded clothes and stood near the treeline. Josie estimated that Meg was twenty feet off the path, based on the distance between the body and Sandrine. There were no discernible footprints near Meg’s body other than the ones Josie and Sandrine had just made. Josie saw some faint depressions now filled with snow like the ones they’d followed along the path, but it was impossible to tell anything from them. They didn’t even form a continuous trail since the snow had been blowing and drifting for hours.

As they waited, Josie kept scanning the woods, worried the bear might find them. Relief pulsed through her when she heard the others call out to Sandrine. Soon, Brian, Nicola, Alice, and Taryn came into view. One by one, they looked beyond Sandrine to where Josie stood sentry over Meg’s body. Their eyes took in the scene. Their expressions changed from curiosity to concern. All they would be able to see from where they stood were Meg’s discarded items and her foot.

“Is she hurt?” Alice said, surging forward.

Josie held up a hand. “Stay there. Please.”

Alice froze. Josie walked over to them, careful to avoid the items of Meg’s clothing that she and Sandrine had unearthed. “I can help,” Alice said, trying to muscle past Josie. “I’m an ER nurse. Remember?”

Taking hold of Alice’s shoulders, Josie kept her in place. “She’s gone, Alice. I checked.”

“Wh-what?” Taryn said, voice high-pitched. “Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

Sandrine touched Taryn’s arm. “Meg is dead.”

“No,” Taryn breathed. She pulled at the knit scarf around her neck, loosening it. “No. She can’t be dead. Did you—did you try to render aid? Alice—Alice has medical training. She can—”

Josie said, “I’m sorry, Taryn. Sandrine is right. It’s too late for that. Meg is dead.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Brian said.

“I’m sorry,” Josie repeated, keeping her voice calm. “I wish I was joking. I truly do.”

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